Suspension-bridge



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet l.

J. HARPER. SUSPENSION BRIDGE.

No. 442,435. Patented Dec. 9, 1890.

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Si 1 k (No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2. J. HARPER. SUSPENSION BRIDGE.

Patented Deo. 9, 1890.

UiviTEn STATES PATENT OEEicE.

JOSHUA HARPER, OF MELVERN, KANSAS.

SUSPENSION-BRIDGE.

S}?ECIFICAT1ON forming part of Letters Patent No. 442,435, dated December 9, 1890.

Application filed May 29, 1890. Serial No. 353,629. (No model.)

To all whom t may concern:

Be vit known that I, JOSHUA HARPER, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at Melvern, in the county of Osage and State of Kansas, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Bridges; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, suoli as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to inalte and use the saine, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to letters of reference marked thereon, which forni a part of this specification.

Thisinventionrelates tosuspension-bridges5 and it consists in the improvements herein described and set forth, whereby a light, strong, and efiieient structure is provided that will be comparatively inexpensive.

In the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, Figure l is a side view of a bridge embodying iny improvements. Fig. 2 is an end view of the saine. Figs. 3 and 4 are detail views. Fig. 5 is a plan view of the bridge; Fig. G, an inverted plan. Fig. '7 is a detail view ot one of the lower plates in an inverted position, and Fig. 8 is a detail view of one of the plat-es for supporting the tubular standards.

On each side of the stream or chasin and adjacent to the bridge approachesis located a pier A, and upon each of these is secured a plate a, preferably secured in position by being bolted to a vertical rod a, secured to a base embedded in the masonry of the pier. Each plate d is provided on its upper side with two lugs CL2, each of which enters the lower open end of a vertical coluinn or standard B, two of such standards being located upon each pier and converging at their upper ends. Adjacent to their bases these standards are transversely perforated for the passage of a securing-rod h, the ends of which are engaged by nuts to rigidly andrelatively brace said standards. A casting 3 fornis a cap for said standards, and is provided upon its lower side with depending lugs, which enter the upper open endsot the standards. Each cap has a longitudinal groove or depression h formed therein, and on its in ner side the said cap is provided with two diagonal openings b2, intermediate of which is a vertical perforation h. A curved or arched tie-rod extends transversely to connect the inner standards of the adjacent piers, and is secu red to each of said inner standards by a bolt passing through the vertical perforations in the cap there-of. These tie-rods not only connect and brace the adjacent pairs of standards, but furnish a inediu in upon which niay be suspended any suitable notice required by the law of the locality in which the bridge may be located and announcing regulations for the bridge travel.

In constructing iny improved bridge I discard the einploynient of the ordinary twisted compound cable, and use in lieu thereof a cable composed of aseries of untwisted strands of wire, which rest and are retained longitudinally in the groove of the cap-plate, and in applying such cable I make use at each end of the bridge approach Of an anchor device coinprisin g a transverse horizontal cylinder C, seated in any suitable arrangement of embedded in asonry, and to one of the en ds of said cylinderis perinan eiitlysecui'ed the wire comprising the stra-iid forming part of the cable, and said strand is then led to the opposite side of the bridge approach, where it is looped around, or, if necessary, connected with, a similar cylinder located thereat, is then led back and forth until a suspension means of the desired size is secured.

In order to protect the embedded anchor device and portions of the cable adjacent to the saine, I coat the saine with tar oi` other equivalent coinpositioiis to prevent corrosion by water and dainpness, and in applying the saine prefer to employ a box C, which enibraees the cable beneath the bed of the roadway and partially embraces the anchor device, and is thereafter filled with tar, as stated.

The arrangement of the inain or body poition of the bridge is such that the necessity of using chords or stringers is entirely obviated. To such end the cable between the standards B B has adjusted thereon at equidistant points a series of saddle-plates I), each of which has a longitudinal depression on its under side to forni a bearing for the cable,

and is provided at each side with verticallyperforated lugs d d. It will be noted that the perforations in the lug (l are substantially IOO 4 \f'erticallydepending rods E are secured to said lugs cl dby having their upper projected threaded ends engaged by nuts, and at their lower ends these rods E are slightly separated, in order to pass through openings therefor located diagonally in a lower plate E', which is also provided with an additional pair of diagonal openings. It will be understood that the saddle-plates at one side of the bridge are arranged to register transversely with the corresponding plates on the other sidefso that the lower plates supported by each pair of rods E will be so disposed as to sustain a transverse timber F.

Saddle-plates G, similar to those previously described, are also mounted on the cable where it inclines toward the anchor, in order that those portions of the structure adjacent to the approaches may be also properly braced and connected. To contribute to the former purpose, the inner standard of each pair has horizontal perforations formed therein, in which are secured by means of nuts the ends of braces, the other ends of which pass through and are secured in the diagonal openings of the adjacent saddle-plates.

Brace-rods g g are secured in the diagonal openings in the cap-plates, and each engages one of the diagonal perfor-ations in the lower plates supporting the timbers next adjacent on each side. The lower plates and upper saddle-plates are braced in series by the diagonal braces 7L, which pass through the diagonal openings, respectively, of the saddle and base plates and connect each lower plate with the saddle-plates next adjacent and correspondingly connect the saddle with the base-plates next adjacent, and so on. By this arrangement a durable and efficient structure is secured, that will readily withstand all the jars and vibrations a bridge is incident to and will at the same time sustain all its parts positively and strongly. It will also be noted that the supporting frame-work of the bridge is formed entirely by the cable saddles and lower plates, brace-rods, and transverse timbers, and that therefore the necessity of the employment of chords or stringers is entirely overcome. It will therefore be seen that in order tosecure proper provision for the iiooring it will only be necessary to employ aseries of parallel beams H, extending` longitudinally over and supported upon the timbers, and that each of these beams is made up of a series of short lengths of timbers, each of which need onlyT be of a length suficient to span the distance between two of thetimbers and abut against the end of the continuing section.

In applying the flooring l prefer to lay the boardsl in diagonal lengths, as shown in Fig. 3, as this arrangement will not only prevent the ends of the boards from being lsprung loose in the path of travel, but permit shorter sections to be used, and, what is most im-portant, will contribute to the rigidity of the structure and' assist in resisting torsional strain.

Each lower plate is provided on its under side with a longitudinal web or rib t', perforated for the connection thereto of a short link j, extending inwardly, as shown in Fig. 6, for engagement therewith of one or two or more chords or cables J, which diagonally connect the links of alternate plates on opposite sides, as shown in Fig 6, and are iinally secured to the standards B B or to a cross-timber K, s annino each )air of iers and se curely lashed or connected to the standards. Vhile of course all of the lower plates may have the link-and-cable connection above explained, it will be sufficient in some instances to so connect only each alternate pair of plates, as shown in Fig. 6. A bar L extends longitudinally along each side of the bridge and is bolt-ed at its ends to the inclined portion of the cable, and isintermediately secured to the inner standard of each pier and to the innerdiagonal braces, as shown in Fig. Land the relative height of such bar is such that it will serve as' a guard for the metal work of the structure against injuries that might be sustained by the contact therewith of hubs ofvehicles passing over the bridge.

The' advantage of employing. aseries of independent strands to form the cable, as explained, will be obvious, for should one of the strands become injured or broken it can be readily repaired or spliced without difficulty and without the necessity of unwinding a considerable portion of the cable, as would be the case were the ordinary form employed.

It will be seen that the tubular form of the standards not only confers great strength upon the bridge at the points where they are located, but that they will yield to" a greater or less extent to give a modera-teamount of elas ticity to the structure. The slightly-arched form of the transverse tie-rod, in additionl to its function as asuspending medium and brace, will by reason. of its curved form allow a greater or less relative yield of the parts without straining their connections.

As will be quite obvious, the plate A may be entirely dispensed with, and in lieu thereof the lower endsof the standards B may bear in recesses therefor in the upper portions of the piers.

Having thus described mfy invention, what l claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The combination, in abridge, of thesupporting-s tandards therefor, having removable caps longitudinally channeled, together with cables, each consisting of acontinuous length wrapped back and forth' from one pier to the other to form parallel u-ntwisted strands and bearing in. thel channel of the caps, grooved saddle-plates mounted on saidcables, andcone nection-s suspending the intermediate frameworkV of the bridge, substantially asset forth.

2. The combination, with a tubular standards thereon and converging at bridge-pier, of

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their upper ends, as described, a tie-brace piercing the lower portions of said standards, and a cap-plate having depending lugs seated in the upper ends of said standards, substantially as set forth.

The combination, in a bridge, of tubular standards located adjacent to one of the approaches of the saine at each side thereof, cap-plates mounted on said standards and having lugs to engage the upper end of the same, and provided with an inwardly-projecting portion vertically perforated, together with a transverse curved spring-brace or tiered having its ends bolted to said verticallyperforated portions, as and for the purpose specified.

4. The combination, in a bridge, of the suspending-cables, supported as described, saddle-plates mounted on said cables, rods depending from said plates and connected at their lower ends to plates, transverse timbers supported by the latter, short lengths of 1011- gitudinal beams having their adjacent ends resting on said transverse timbers, and a flooring secured on said beams, substantially as set forth.

5. The combination, in abridge, of the cables suitably supported, saddle-plates having depressions in which said cables bear and provided with vertical and diagonal perforations, together with depending rods connected at also having diagonal perforations, and diagoj nallyarranged braces which connect each of the saddles with a plate beneath each ofthe two adjacent saddles on each side, substantially as set forth.

G. The combination, in a bridge, of the cables suitably supported, lower plates suspended therefrom and each provided on its under side with a perforated web, links connected to said Webs, and cables alternately engaging said links and connected to the end portions of the structure, substantially as set forth.

7. The combination, ina bridge, of the pier and tubular standard mounted thereon, a cable supported. thereby and suspending intermediate portions of the bridge, saddles mounted. on said cable on both sides of said standard, and brace-rods connecting the standard with said saddles, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JOSHUA HARPER.

Witnesses:

PETER CHEVALIER, R. J. HARPER. 

